“An idol can become a barrier—you get stuck on it. But you can also recognize that there’s nothing wrong with the idol itself. You can use it as a window, or a prism, to access the reality the idol represents.”
Very profound perception. I’ve seen this described as the image and the icon. An idol, when you are stuck on it, is just an image of god. Not the real thing. But when it becomes a window to a deeper reality, like the icons on your computer, it allows you to access the real thing, the reality it represents.
Yes, exactly. The image/icon distinction is exactly what's at issue here. Thanks for bringing it up, Clint.
The place where I've always seen this distinction most clearly and naturally called out is in the contrasting attitudes between, on the one hand, Reformed Christianity and traditional evangelicalism, and on the other hand Eastern Orthodoxy. To the former, any and all visual representations of divinity are idolatrous. Witness the bare white walls of traditional Baptist churches. But in Eastern Orthodoxy the creation and contemplation of icons has been developed over the centuries into an exquisitely sophisticated and profound spiritual discipline.
My favorite description of these contrasting attitudes has long been Theodore Roszak's in his 1972 book WHERE THE WASTELAND ENDS, though he's not talking about Eastern Orthodoxy vs. Protestantism but Christianity vs. paganism:
"What this adamant [Christian] rejection of pagan worship failed to grasp (and we must assume it was for lack of the ability to experience the fact) was precisely the capacity of an icon or natural object to be enchanted, to be transmuted into something more than itself. What our tradition refers to as idolatry is a variety of magic, and magic, in its pristine form, is sacramental perception. The function of any so-called idol, authentically perceived, is to give local embodiment to the universal presence and power of the divine. It gathers up that presence as a lens gathers up light diffused in space and gives it a bright, hard focus. But of course the light vastly envelops the lens; so too the supposed idolater understands attendant divinity to envelop all of being. To know this is to understand how any portion of nature, even the most unaccountable things or indeed nature as a whole, can quite suddenly assume the radiance of a magical object. To this psychic dimension of idolatry, however, Christianity was as firmly closed as Judaism."
Exactly. I was brought up in the protestant tradition and it’s no wonder as soon as I was an adult I turned away from it. Nothing was magical and the message seemed to be (to a kid): accept Jesus “into your heart” or he’ll let you fry in flames after you die. I don’t want to be overly dramatic, but to a little kid that is a terrifying and traumatic message (and I now believe completely wrong). What I can’t believe is that it took a complete mid-life burnout/crises for me to finally have my eyes opened to this deeper world of magic, where I feel God and Christ in palpable, real ways, and I’m drinking in this living water like a man dying in the dessert, because, well, spiritually, I was. That last line hits hard. That has been my experience - give anything your complete attention until it becomes holy, and suddenly, any object transmutes from the image into the icon, and the portal opens. The me of only four years ago, would think I had gone insane. Which, from the world’s perspective, I have.
“An idol can become a barrier—you get stuck on it. But you can also recognize that there’s nothing wrong with the idol itself. You can use it as a window, or a prism, to access the reality the idol represents.”
Very profound perception. I’ve seen this described as the image and the icon. An idol, when you are stuck on it, is just an image of god. Not the real thing. But when it becomes a window to a deeper reality, like the icons on your computer, it allows you to access the real thing, the reality it represents.
Yes, exactly. The image/icon distinction is exactly what's at issue here. Thanks for bringing it up, Clint.
The place where I've always seen this distinction most clearly and naturally called out is in the contrasting attitudes between, on the one hand, Reformed Christianity and traditional evangelicalism, and on the other hand Eastern Orthodoxy. To the former, any and all visual representations of divinity are idolatrous. Witness the bare white walls of traditional Baptist churches. But in Eastern Orthodoxy the creation and contemplation of icons has been developed over the centuries into an exquisitely sophisticated and profound spiritual discipline.
My favorite description of these contrasting attitudes has long been Theodore Roszak's in his 1972 book WHERE THE WASTELAND ENDS, though he's not talking about Eastern Orthodoxy vs. Protestantism but Christianity vs. paganism:
"What this adamant [Christian] rejection of pagan worship failed to grasp (and we must assume it was for lack of the ability to experience the fact) was precisely the capacity of an icon or natural object to be enchanted, to be transmuted into something more than itself. What our tradition refers to as idolatry is a variety of magic, and magic, in its pristine form, is sacramental perception. The function of any so-called idol, authentically perceived, is to give local embodiment to the universal presence and power of the divine. It gathers up that presence as a lens gathers up light diffused in space and gives it a bright, hard focus. But of course the light vastly envelops the lens; so too the supposed idolater understands attendant divinity to envelop all of being. To know this is to understand how any portion of nature, even the most unaccountable things or indeed nature as a whole, can quite suddenly assume the radiance of a magical object. To this psychic dimension of idolatry, however, Christianity was as firmly closed as Judaism."
Exactly. I was brought up in the protestant tradition and it’s no wonder as soon as I was an adult I turned away from it. Nothing was magical and the message seemed to be (to a kid): accept Jesus “into your heart” or he’ll let you fry in flames after you die. I don’t want to be overly dramatic, but to a little kid that is a terrifying and traumatic message (and I now believe completely wrong). What I can’t believe is that it took a complete mid-life burnout/crises for me to finally have my eyes opened to this deeper world of magic, where I feel God and Christ in palpable, real ways, and I’m drinking in this living water like a man dying in the dessert, because, well, spiritually, I was. That last line hits hard. That has been my experience - give anything your complete attention until it becomes holy, and suddenly, any object transmutes from the image into the icon, and the portal opens. The me of only four years ago, would think I had gone insane. Which, from the world’s perspective, I have.
"Give anything your complete attention until it becomes holy, and suddenly, any object transmutes from the image into the icon, and the portal opens."
I love this articulation of the point. Also glad the overall portal has opened for you in a big way.